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THE ULSTER EEVIVAL
OF
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
THE
OF THE
AN
INSTRUCTIVE CHAPTER IN THE EARLY HISTORY
PEESBYTEEIANISM IK IEELAND.
BY THE
EEV. MATTHEW KERE,
DEOMORE WEST. '
BELFAST :
C. AITCHtSON, 9, HIGH STREET.
1859.
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TO
THE LORD'S REMEMBRANCERS
%
IN OTJR ZION,
WHOSE EARNEST PRAYERS
FOR A TIME OF REFRESHING GO UP TO GOD,
OF
THE LORD'S REVIVING- WORK
IS DEDICATED,
PREFACE.
IT may be necessary to state how I came to think of
publishing this narrative. Having recently to deliver
a lecture on "The Ulster Eevival of the 17th Century,"
the necessary preparation brought the subject fully
before me. The more I read of the Eevival, the greater
the interest that gathered around it. Then it struck
me that a short account of this remarkable work of
grace might stir up some to desire such another season
of revival. It is to Reid's History of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland I am mainly indebted for the
materials out of which this, the most instructive chap-
ter in the history of our Zion, has been compiled.
That work is too large and expensive to be generally
read to the many it is altogether inaccessible. In the
hope of bringing the subject of the Eevival before the
minds of some who have not access to the History, and
with the desire of stimulating the people of God
throughout our Church, these pages have been written.
M. K.
THE MANSE, DKOMOEE WEST,
April, 1859.
THE KEYIYAL IN ULSTER.
OHAPTEK I.
WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS.
" He shall come down, like showers
Upon the fruitful earth,
And love, joy, hope, like flowers,
Spring in his path to hirth."
WHAT is a revival ? It is midsummer, and no
rain has fallen for weeks. The bottled clouds
refuse to yield one drop of moisture, and all
nature is sore athirst. Down in the meadows
the springs are dried up, and the grass is brown
and shrivelled. Here and there the corn fields
are red as they were in April, for the green
blade has been burned up. Along the wayside
the hedgerows are covered with a dense coat of
dust. The leaves are drooping, the flowers are
dying, the little birds have ceased tbeir song.
And as the husbandman surveys his parched
10 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
fields, and looks up to the brazen sky, his heart
sinks within him. But, in His own good time,
God hears the cry of universal nature, and sends
down the rain. For hours it has fallen copiously,
and now the clouds have cleared away, and the
sun is shining again. What a change S And how
suddenly ! All nature is revived. Once more
the birds are singing. No longer leaves or
flowers are drooping, unless under the load of
the rain drops. The fields and hedgerows are
green again, for " God has visited the earth and
watered it ; He has greatly enriched it with the
river of God which is full of water."
This is a -picture of a revival in the Church of
God. When rain from heaven is withheld, the
fields of Zion languish; but when the Spirit
descends as "rain upon the mown grass and as
showers that water the earth," even " The
wilderness and the solitary place are made glad,
and the desert rejoices and blossoms as the
rose." Then, " In the wilderness waters, break
out, and streams in the desert; and the parched
ground becomes a pool, and the thirsty land
springs of water." Then sinners are converted
and saints are quickened. The Bible is prayer-
WHAT A REVIVAL OF RELIGION IS. 11
fully read in the closet, and statedly read in the
family. The sanctuary is thronged with eager
worshippers, and a mighty power accompanies
the preaching of the Word ; for earnest prayer
goes up to God, and ministers preach with the
" Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." Then
the Church realises the beautiful imagery of the
Song of Songs, " The winter is past, the rain is
over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come, and the
voice of the turtle is heard in. our land ; the fig
tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines
with the tender grapes give a good smell."
But why occupy time in defining what a
revival is ? Has not the wondrous work going
on in America made the subject familiar to
every one ? Who has not heard of the remark-
able spirit of prayer that has been poured out
upon all the evangelical churches, in the Western
World ? Whose heart has not leaped for joy at
the report of those crowded meetings for prayer
in New York and Philadelphia, at midday, at-
tended by business men, willing to give up the
busiest hour of the day for a season of com-
munion with God? All have heard of the mar-
12 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
vels -which the Lord's right arm hath wrought
among our American brethren of the goings of
His glorious chariot in its triumphal marches
over that great land. None needs to be told
what a revival of religion is.
CHAPTER II.
THE PREPARATORY WORK.
" I -will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all
their herbs ; and I -will make the rivers islands, and I -will
dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way
that they knew not ; I will lead them in paths that they
have not known. I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto
them and not forsake them." ISAIAH xlii. 15, 16.
THE Apostle has said that there are " diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit ; and differences of
administrations, but the same Lord; and diversi-
ties of operations, but the same God which worketh
all in all." This appears in the different revivals
with which the Church has, from time to time,
been visited. The preparatory work is different
in all. So, 'too, are the agencies employed.
But the work in every case, so far as it is genu-
ine, is wrought by that " one and the selfsame
Spirit, who divideth to every man severally as
He will." The Ulster revival has features pecu-
liar to itself, as well in its preparatory work as
in its full development. That we may see how
14 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
God prepared the way for this work, it will be
necessary to glance at the state of things ante- .
cedent to the revival, as connected, not with
Ireland alone, but also with Scotland and
England.
Look, first, at Ireland. The Reformation
was a failure in Ireland. Various causes contri-
buted to this. , There had been no previous
circulation of the Scriptures as in the sister
countries; so that when Archbishop Brown was
sent over by Henry VIII. to establish the re-
formed doctrines in the kingdom, he found the
people wholly unprepared to receive .them. The
Romish faith was abolished by Acts of Parlia-
ment, but no efforts were made to instruct the
people in the truth. English clergymen,
against whom the people were strongly preju-
diced, were put into the parish churches. The
Irish tongue was then almost universally spoken
by the people, and ought to have been employed
in the service of the sanctuary. Instead of
this, only the English language was permitted
to be used, except when the minister could not
read English, in which case he was enjoined to
use the Latin tongue. No attempt was made to
THE PREPARATORY WORK. 15
render the Bible or the Service Book into the
vernacular of the people. Sir Henry Sydney,
the Governor, writing to Queen Elizabeth, in
1576, gives this sad picture of the religious con-
dition of the country : "Your Majesty may be-
lieve it, that upon the face of the earth, where
Christ is professed, there is not a Church in so
miserable a case : the misery of which consisteth
in these three particulars the ruin of the very
temples themselves ; the want of good mini-
sters to serve in them when' they shall be re-
edified ; and competent livings for the ministers
when well chosen." Twenty years later,
Spenser, the poet, gives even a more melancholy
description of the state of religion throughout
the entire country. But of all the four pro-
vinces, the condition of Ulster seems to have
been the saddest. For years together, divine
service had not been performed in any parish
church, except in some city or principal town.
The close of Elizabeth's reign in Ireland was
disturbed by frequent rebellions. Ulster was the
chief seat of these unhappy commotions. The
issue was, that the properties of some of the
great chiefs were confiscated. These the queen
16 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
made an effort to colonize \vith settlers from
JEngland, but the project was not successful.
When James ascended the throne of England
he resolved to colonize Ulster on a large scale,
from Scotland as well as England. The way
seemed open, as the estates of the revolted Earls
of Tyrone and Tyrconnel at this time reverting
to the crown, the king had placed at his disposal
not less than half-a-million acres of land in the
northern province. To Sir Arthur Ohichester
the direction of the scheme was entrusted, and
much of the success of the Ulster Plantation is
to be attributed to his skilful management.
About 1610 the colonists had begun to occupy
the confiscated lands. Scotland, from its vicinity
to Ulster, and from the hardiness and enterprise
of its people, furnished by far the largest share
of the settlers. Fixing themselves in the north-
eastern parts of the province, the Scotch gradu-
ally spread themselves into the interior, while
the English for the most part occupied the
southern and western portions. There was no
strife or discord among the strangers. And now
what sudden change takes place over the face of
the northern counties ! Ruined cities are re-
THE PREPARATORY WORK. 17
built and re-inhabited. Towns and villages
spring up where there were none before. The
tall woods fall before the axe of the industrious
settler, and cleared fields wave with corn, or are
clothed with flocks. The hovels of the natives
disappear, and lordly castle, or fortified bawn, or
snug farm-house, rises where they stood. Every-
where the fruits that follow in the wake of
industry are visible. Not more striking is the
transformation going on in any of our colonies
now, than that which took place in Down and
Antrim, in Derry and Tyrone, when our hardy
and thrifty forefathers took up their dwelling
there in the reign of James.
What was the religious character of the colo-
nists ? Perhaps not worse than the character
of our countrymen who are now colonizing the
seaboard of Australia, or the mighty forests of
Upper Canada. The men who go as the- pio-
neers of civilization to any land, are men of
strong nerve and enterprising minds, fitted thus
for the work they have to accomplish ; but too
often setting little price upon the means of grace,
as they show by the course they pursue in leav-
ing the vine and fig-tree of their fathers, allured
18 THE ULSTER EEVIVAL.
too often by golden visions, for a dwelling be-
yond the reach of Gospel ordinances. There
are, however, noble exceptions, for it is not the
thirst of gold or the greed of gain that takes
all our colonists away from the mother country.
Many exceptions there were among the Ulster
settlers. The picture drawn by Stewart, the son
of one of the ministers who came over, is evi-
dently a little over coloured. " From Scotland
came many, and from England not a few, yet
all of them generally the scum of both nations,
who, from debt or breaking, or fleeing from
justice, or seeking shelter, came hither hoping
to be \vithout fear of man's justice, in a land
where there was nothing, or but little as yet, of
the fear of God. . . . Most of the people were
all void of godliness, who seemed rather to flee
from God in the enterprise than to follow their
own mercy." Blair's sketch is dark enough, but
is somewhat relieved. " Although among those
whom Divine Providence did send to Ireland,
there were several persons eminent for birth,
education, and parts, yet the most part were
such as either poverty, scandalous lives, or, at
the best, adventurous seeking of better accom-
THE PBEPAEATOEY WOEK. 19
modation had forced thither, so that the security
and thriving of religion was little seen to by
those adventurers."
Thus the way was prepared in Ireland for the
work of grace soon to begin in Ulster. In all
these rebellions anol confiscations in this ex-
tensive and successful colonization we can
trace the hand of God.
Glance now at England. The Reformation,
begun under Henry, carried on during the life of
his promising son, arrested in its progress while
the bloody Mary sat upon the throne, was
firmly established as soon as Elizabeth began
her reign. It was not, however, a thorough re-
formation -it did not pluck up by the roots all
the Popish errors. Many of the measures of
the English Reformers, in the hope of concili-
ating the Romanists, were only half measures a
compromise that then, as ever, failed to satisfy.
This is very powerfully put by Macaulay in the
opening part of his history of England. From
the very first there were two parties in the Re-
formed Church of England: the one zealous
for forms and ceremonies ; the other, of whom
Hooper is the earliest representative, opposed
20 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
to all forms and ceremonies not wholly sanc-
tioned by the Word of God, and anxious for a
reformation more thorough and complete. The
dissatisfied and reforming party soon came to be
called Puritans. Sadly were they persecuted
throughout the' long reign of Elizabeth. Many
of the most godly ministers in England were
driven from their pulpits, because they would
not conform to what they deemed unscriptural
rites. But, as had often happened before in
like cases, the more they were oppressed and
persecuted, the more they grew.
Elizabeth died on the 24th of March, 1 603,
and in the month following, James was on his
way to London to^take possession of the crown
of England. Aa he journeyed south, the Puri-
tan ministers met him on the way to state their
grievances, naturally expecting sympathy from
him on account of his Scottish birth and train-
ing. They assured him " That they, to the
number of more than a thousand ministers,
groaned under the burden of human rites and
ceremonies, and cast themselves at his majesty's
feet for relief." Alas ! they sought relief in
vain from James. ' Their hopes were utterly ex-
THE PREPARATORY WORK. 21
tinguished in the following year, when the king
refused to hear their complaints in the Hampton
Court Conference, and dismissed them with the
ominous words, " I will make them conform, or
I will harrie them out of the land." This was
no vain threat. And now, while the Ulster
Plantation is going on, let us see what is taking
place among James's Puritan subjects in Eng-
land.
Unable to bear the yoke any longer, a
goodly number of the suffering Puritans from
the eastern shores of England take ship and
cross over to Holland, bearing with them a
learned and godly minister, named John Kobin-
son. They settle, first at Amsterdam, but soon
remove to Leyden; and at last, after a sojourn
of twelve years in the latter place, the exiles re-
solve to seek a home in the New World. A
large body of them strike sail from Delph haven,
on the 22nd July, 1620. What befel them
afterwards how the party was divided, and
some went back from the enterprise need not
be told. A band of about one hundred, after
much tossing, reached New England in the May
Flower on the nth November, 1620 a day
22 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
ever memorable ! Who could have foreseen the
issue of that expedition ? . These Pilgrim
Fathers were the founders of a great empire.
In the fresh earth of the New World they
planted those great principles of civil and reli-
gious freedom which had found as yet an unge-
uial soil in their own land. Long since the hand
of God has been acknowledged in all this. Nor
less is it seen in what was taking place at the
same time in Ulster. There, while New Eng-
land was affording a refuge to the Pilgrim
Fathers, not a few of the persecuted Puritans
sought and obtained a resting place. This
again was God's way of preparing for the revival
that was to follow.
But turn now to Scotland. King James in
the early part of his reign in Scotland, in the
meeting of the General Assembly, had publicly
praised God that he " was born in such a time,
as in the time of the light of the Gospel, and in
such a place as to be king in such a Kirk, the
sincerest Kirk in the world." He had charged
the assembled ministers, doctors, elders, nobles,
gentlemen, and barons, to stand to then 1 purity ;
" and I, forsooth," he concluded, " so long as I
THE PREPARATORY WORK. 23
brook my life and my crown, shall maintain the
same against all deadly." Not long after, the
king was labouring with all his might to rob
this sineerest Kirk in the world of all her
liberty and privilege. Some disguise was worn
in Scotland, but this was entirely cast away as
soon as he set foot in England. Then the
Church which he had solemnly pledged himself
in open Assembly to defend, he sought openly
to destroy. The more prominent ministers who
would not yield to his wishes, were banished or
imprisoned. One of these was the celebrated
John Welch, of Ayr. After a banishment of
fourteen years, he was permitted, after much so-
licitation, to return to London, his health having
suffered so much that nothing but a return to
his native country would, his physicians assured
him, save his life. His wife, a daughter of
John Knox, .obtained an interview with the
king, and requested that her dying husband
might be allowed to breathe once more the air of
his native Scotland. His majesty, with coarse
oaths, refused her request, unless she would un-
dertake to persuade her husband to submit to the
bishops. "Please your majesty," the noble
24 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
daughter of a noble sire replied, lifting up her
apron as if to receive her husband's falling head,
"Please your majesty, I would rather kep his
head there." While persecution was raging in
Scotland, the Ulster Plantation was making ra-
pid progress. Persecuted ministers fled to
Ulster, where, for a time, they were permitted to
enjoy security, and preach the Word without
fear. Here again the hand of God is manifest.
The settlement of persecuted ministers from
Scotland in Ulster, is another part of His pre-
paratory work for bringing about the revival of
religion in the province.
Such was the work of preparation for the re-
vival. God can make the wrath of man even
the persecution of kings to praise Him.
Rulers, in the carrying out of their own schemes
of lust or ambition, are all the while preparing
the way for the coming of the'Lord.
CHAPTER III.
THE MEN PEOVEDED FOE THE WOEK.
"I \vill give you pastors according to mine heart, which
shall feed you with- knowledge and understanding."
JEHEHIAH iii. 15.
"The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Bamahas and Saul,
for the work whereunto I have called them." ACTS xiii. 2.
WHEN God has a work to do, the fitting men
are always raised up. All the important eras in
the history of the Church furnish illustration of
this truth. And never was it more strikingly
confirmed than in the Ulster revival. He who,
in the early ages of the Church, " gave some
apostles, and some prophets, and some evange-
lists, and some pastors and teachers, for the per-
fecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,"
sent at this time to Ulster a hand of men emi-
nently endowed, and of singular devotedness
men in every way fitted for the work given them
to achieve.
It may at first sight seem strange that perse-
cution did not follow the exiled ministers to
Ireland. But it is to be borne in mind that
26 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
little was then known of Ireland at the seat of
government. And as the historian has observed,
" Provided they were removed out of England
and Scotland, where they so frequently opposed
his arbitrary measures, James cared little for
their existence and influence in this remote and
turbulent country."
Of the ministers who came over, some were
from England, but more from Scotland. The
date of the arrival of the first was 1613, so that
the settlers were for some years without faithful
Gospel ministrations, as in ] 610 the plantation
had made considerable progress. They were a
little band whom God honoured to begin the
revival only seven in number ; but when the
work began, that little band was strengthened
by the addition of nearly an equal number of
faithful and laborious men, who entered with
much zeal into the movement, and aided by their
counsel, their preaching, and their prayers, to
bring about the results that followed. It could
hardly be said that the one sowed and the other
reaped ; for as in those northern regions where
the frost and snow have scarce passed away till
the song of the reaper is heard as he gathers
THE MEN PROVIDED FOR THE WORK. 27
home the corn, so in Down aad Antrim now,
the harvest followed fast upon the seedtime, and
without enquiring who had sowed, all toiled in
the same field, he that sowed and he that reaped
rejoicing together. Of the first seven, five were
from Scotland and two from England, while of
. the others who joined them, all were from
Sco.tland, excepting only one. It is not possible
in a limited space to give a sketch of each, all
we can do is to single out two or three as repre-
sentatives of the rest.
Of the Englishmen take John Ridge. He
had been admitted to deacon's orders by the
Bishop of Oxford in 1611, but having no free-
dom for the exercise of his ministry in England
without conformity, he came over to Ireland, and
was admitted to the vicarage of Antrim on the
7th of July, 1619, on the presentation of Lord
Ohichester. Here he laboured with such wisdom
and earnestness as to secure from a contempo-
rary the character of "the judicious and gracious
minister of Antrim." Another speaks of him as
" a great urger of charitable works, and a very
humble man." Hubbard and Colwert, his
countrymen, were no less gracious or faithful.
28 THE ULSTEK REVIVAL.
Of the Scotchmen take Robert Blair and
John Livingstone. Blair had been a professor
or regent in the college of Glasgow, but being
opposed to Dr. Cameron, the principal, who had
been appointed with the view of bringing the
college to approve of Prelacy, he threw up his
chair, and on the invitation of Lord Clandeboy
came over to Ireland in 1623. His own ac-
count of his settlement at Bangor, in County
Down the way in which his objections to the
place were overcome his ordination by Mr.
Cunningham of Holy wood, and the adjacent
brethren, the bishop only taking part as a pres-
byter, to meet his scruples against Episcopal
ordination is' exceedingly interesting. His
ministry was greatly blessed. One who knew
iiim intimately, thus speaks of him, " He was a
man of notable constitution both of body and
mind, of a majestic, awful, yet affable and
amiable countenance and carriage, thoroughly
learned, of strong parts, deep invention, solid
judgment, and of a most public spirit for God.
His gift of preaching was such, that seldom
could any observe withdrawing of assistance in
public, which in others is frequent. He seldom
THE MEN PKOVIDED FOR THE WORK. 29
ever wanted assurance of his salvation. He
spent many days and nights in prayer alone and
with others, and was vouchsafed great intimacy
with God."
The revival had made considerable way when,
in 1630, Livingstone settled at Killinchy, in
County Down, and threw himself, with all his
heart and soul, into the good work. He had
been assistant to the minister of Torphichen, in
Scotland, but was silenced by Spotiswood, Arch-
bishop of St. Andrews, because of his opposi-
tion to Prelacy. It was under his preaching
that the remarkable awakening at the Kirk of
Shotts occurred on the Monday after the com-
munion, 21st June, 1630. At this time Living-
stone was only twenty-seven years of age, and
was acting as chaplain to the Countess of Wig-
ton. Many ministers and people had collected
for the communion season. On the Sabbath
there was much solemnity, and when the Mon-
day came, all felt reluctant to go away without
a day of thanksgiving to Him whose dying
love they had been commemorating. Living-
stone was prevailed on to preach much against
his will, from the deep sense he had of his own
30 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
unworthiness. Indeed, he had even -withdrawn
from the congregation to avoid the necessity of
preaching, but was moved by a strong impulse
upon his mind to return. The result is well
known. " I can speak," says Fleming, " on sure
ground, that nearly 500 had at that time a dis-
cernible change wrought on them, of whom most
proved lively Christians afterwards. It was
the sowing of a seed through Clydesdale, so that
many of the most eminent Christians of that
country could date either their conversion, or
some remarkable confirmation of their case
from that day." Livingstone came to Ireland
on the invitation of Lord Clandeboy. Like
Blair, he objected to Episcopal ordination, and
as in his case, so now he was set apart by the
laying on of the hands of his brethren, the
bishop only assisting. Coming from a work of
revival in Scotland, his spirit quickened by what
he had witnessed at the Kirk of Shotts, Living-
stone was, in an especial manner, qualified to
assist Eidge and Blair, Welsh and Dunbar,
in the great movement God was then carrying
on through their instrumentality. His arrival
was most opportune.
THE MEN PROVIDED FOR THE WORK. 31
Thus the men whom God called from England
and Scotland to begin or carry on His revival
work in Ulster were eminently fitted for the task.
Trained all of them in the school of affliction
exiles like John in Patmos, " for the word of
God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ" emi-
nent, not a few of them, for gifts as well as
graces,- it is manifest to all that they had been
separated of the Holy Ghost for the work where-
unto they were called.
The position these ministers occupied was a
singular one. They preached in the parish
churches, and received the parish tithes; and
yet they did not give up, the English their
Puritanism, or the Sgotch their Presbyterianism.
There was no compromise on their part. True,
this state of things did not long continue. But
when the bishops sought to enforce conformity,
they were as ready to give up all emolument and
submit to trial and banishment for the truth's
sake in Ireland, as they had been in Scotland
and England. But this comes not before us
here. Brave men ! Their names are a rich in-
heritance. Being dead they yet speak to us !
CHAPTER IV.
THE WOKE ITSELF.
" And I will make them and the places round ahout my
hill a hlessing ; and I will cause the shower to come down
in his season; there shall he showers of blessing."
EZEKTEL xxxiv. 26.
GOD often works by weak instruments, that the
glory may be all His own. Of the ministers
who had settled in Ulster, James Glendinning
was the least gifted, yet God made use of him
to begin the revival. Mr. Hubbard did not sur-
vive long his removal to Carrickfergus with his
London congregation, and on his death Glen-
dinning was chosen to succeed him. His want
of fitness for the place soon became evident J:o his
brother ministers. Blair having occasion to visit
Carrickfergus on some business, and hearing
him preach occasionally, " perceived," to quote
from Stewart, " some sparkles of good inclina-
tion in him, yet found him not solid, but weak,
and not fitted for a public place and among the
English." Blair advised him to remove to
some place in the country ; and when next we
THE WORK ITSELF. 33
hear of him he is fixed at Oldstone, near the
town, of Antrim. "He was a man," Stewart
tells us, " who would never have been chosen
by a wise assembly of ministers, nor sent to be-
gin a reformation in this land Yet
this was the Lord's choice to begin with him
the admirable work of God, which I mention
on purpose that all men may see how the glory
is only the Lord's, in making a holy nation in
this profane land, arid that it was not by might,
nor by power, nor by man's wisdom, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord."
At Oldstone Glendinning preached the terrors
of the law and G-od's hatred to sin, and so
.alarmed a careless people that many were led to
cry, "What must we do to be saved ?" Rich
and poor were awakened. The work spread
rapidly. All along the Six-Mile Water valley
the cry of anxious sinners was heard. Crowds
flocked to Oldstone to hear the Word ; still the
minister preached only law terrors. He who
had raised the storm was not able to allay it ;
the preacher at whose bidding the waves of
spiritual anxiety began to roll, knew not to pour
the oil of Gospel grace upon the troubled
'34 THE ULSTEK REVIVAL.
waters. Like John the Baptist, his message
was " Repent," and like him his office seems to
have been to prepare men for the kingdom of
God, not to lead them into it. Let us not de-
spise the man or his work. The ploughshare
deals rather rudely with the fallow ground, but
do we reject it on this account ? The hewer in
the marble quarry inflicts heavy blows upon the
rough unshapen block, but this treatment is
necessary to prepare it for the chisel even of a
Phidias. At the same time let us see how, in
the gifts of the other ministers, God more than
supplied what was wanting in Glendinning.
The neighbouring ministers were soon made
aware of the work that was going on. Indeed,
the excitement had spread to their parishes.
They at once came to the help of Glendinning,
and by skilfully directing the wounded to the
great Physician, many found peace. Soon
hope and joy took the place of fear and tor-
ment. Meetings for prayer were multiplied,
they who were walking in the light desiring to
have fellowship one with another. In this way,
the Monthly Meetings at Antrim originated,
that place becoming the centre of the move-
THE WORK ITSELF. 35
ment. Ridge, the minister of Antrim, "per-
.ceiving," says Blair, "many people on both
sides of the Six-Mile Water awakened out of
their security, made an overture that a monthly
meeting might be set up at Antrim, which was
within a mile of Oldstone, and lay centrical for
the awakened persons to -resort to, and he in-
vited Mr. Cunningham of Holywood, Mr.
Hamilton of Killyleagh, and myself to take
part in that work, who were all glad of the mo-
tion, and heartily embraced it." This was
about the year 1626. It was not the common
people only who were at this time brought
under the power of the truth. " It pleased the
Lord," Stewart records, "to visit mercifully the
honourable family in Antrim, so as Sir John
Clotworthy, and my lady, his mother, and his
own precious lady, did shine in an eminent
manner in receiving the Gospel, and offering
themselves to the Lord, whose example instantly
other gentlemen followed, such as Captain Norton
and others, of whom the Gospel made a clear
and cleanly conquest."
The account of the origin of the Monthly
Meetings, as given by Stewart, is the following :
36 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
" When, therefore, the multitude of wounded
consciences were healed, they hegan to draw into-
holy communion and meeting together privately
for edification, a thing which, in a lifeless gene-
ration, is hoth neglected and reproved. But the
new life forced it among the people, who desired
to know what God was doing with the souls of
their neighbours, who, they perceived, were
wrought on in spirit as they had heen. There
was a man in the parish of Oldstone, called
Hugh Campbell, who had fled from Scotland ;
him God caught in Ireland, and made him an
exemplary Christian until this day. He was a
g'entleman of the house of Duket Hall. After
this man was healed of the wound given to his
soul by the Almighty, he became very refreshful
to others who had less learning and judgment
than himself. He therefore invited some of his
honest neighbours, who fought the same fight
of faith, to meet him at his house on the last
Friday of the month, when and where, begin-
ning with a few, they spent their time in prayer,
mutual edification, and conference on what they
found within them. Nothing like the superfi-
cial, superfluous meetings of some cold-hearted
THE WORK ITSELF. 37
professors, who afterwards made this work a
snare to many. But these new beginners were
more filled with heart exercise than head no-
tions, and with fervent prayer rather than conceity
gifts to fill the head. As these truly increased,
so did this meeting for private edification in-
crease too ; and still at Hugh Campbell's house
on. the last Friday of the month. At last they
grew so numerous, that the ministers who had
begotten them again to Christ, thought fit that
some of them should be still with them to pre-
vent what hurt might follow."
While Antrim was the centre of the work, it
was not confined to it, but extended into the
adjoining'parishes, spreading over a considerable
portion of the north-east of -Ulster. The con-
gregation of Larne, under the faithful ministry of
George Dunbar, shared largely in the awaken-
ing. In Bangor, also, as Blair has himself
recorded, "The knowledge of God increasing
among that people, and the ordinance of prayer
being precious in their eyes, the work of the
Lord did prosper in the place." At Killinchy,
Livingstone was for a time discouraged, for, as
he tells us, "although the people were very
38 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
tractable, yet they were generally very ignorant/
and I saw no appearance of doing any good
among them ; yet it pleased the Lord that in a
short time some of them began to understand
somewhat of their condition."
The work of God went on for years without
any abatement of interest. Monthly, there was
the meeting of all who could attend at the
rallying point, Antrim. We give at length the
record of these meetings as furnished by
Livingstone : " We used ordinarily to meet the
first Friday of every month, at Antrim, where
was a great and good congregation; and that
day was spent in fasting and prayer, and public
preaching. Commonly two preached every fore-
noon, and two in 'the afternoon. We used to
come together the Thursday's night before,
and stayed the Friday's night after, and con-
sulted about such things as concerned the
carrying on of the Work of God ; and these
meetings among ourselves were sometimes as
profitable as either Presbyteries or Synods.
Such as laid religion to heart, used to convene
to these meetings, especially out of the Six-mile-
Water valley, which was nearest hand, and
THE WORK ITSELF. * 39
where -was the greatest number of religious
people: and frequently the Sabbath after the
Friday's meeting, the communion was celebrated
in one or other of our parishes. Among all the
ministers, there was never any jar or jealousy ;
yea, nor amongst the professors, the greatest
part of them being Scots, and some good
number of very gracious English; all whose
contention was to prefer others to themselves.
And although the gifts of the ministers were
much different, yet it was not observed that the
people followed any to the undervaluing of
others. Many of these religious professors had
been both ignorant and profane, and for debt
and want, and worse causes, had left Scotland.
Yet the Lord was pleased by His Word to work
such a change, that I do not think there were
more lively and experienced Christians anywhere
than were at this time in Ireland. They were
in good numbers, and several of these persons
in good outward condition in the world. Being
but lately brought in, the lively edge was not
yet gone off them, and the perpetual fear that
the bishops would put away their ministers,
40 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
made them with great hunger wait on the
ordinances. I have known them come several
miles from their own houses to communions, to
the Saturday's sermon, and spending the whole
Saturday's night in several companies, some-
times a minister being with them, and sometimes
themselves alone, in conference and prayer.
They have then waited on the public ordinances
the whole Sabbath, and spent the Sabbath
night in the same way, and yet at the Monday's
sermon were not troubled with sleepiness ; and
so they have not slept till they went home. In
those days it was no great difficulty for a
minister to preach or pray in public or private,
such was the hunger of the hearers, and it was
hard to judge whether there was more of the
Lord's presence in the public or private
meetings."
Blair's testimony is to the same effect " The
blessed work of conversion, which was of several
years' continuance, spread beyond the bounds
of Antrim and Down, to the skirts of neigh-
bouring counties ; and the resort of people to
the Monthly Meetings, and communion occa-
THE WOKK ITSELF. 41
sions, and the appetite of the people were .
become so great, that we were sometimes con-
strained in sympathy to them, to venture beyond
any preparation we had made for the occasion.
And indeed, preaching and praying were so
pleasant in those days, and hearers so eager and
greedy, that no day was long enough, nor any
room large enough, to answer their strong
desires and large expectations."
The work attracted considerable notice.
Fleming, an independent witness, in his Ful-
filling of Scripture, more than confirms the
testimony of Blair and Livingstone. " I shall
here instance," he writes, " that great and solemn
work of God which was in the Church of
Ireland some years before the fall of prelacy,
about the year 1628, and some years thereafter,
which, as many grave and solid Christians yet
alive can witness, who were there present, was a
bright and hot sun-blink of the Gospel ; yea,
may with sobriety be said to have been one of
the largest manifestations of the Spirit, and of
the most solemn times of the downpouring
thereof, that almost since the clays of the
42 THE ULSTER EEVTVAL.
apostles hath, been seen. I remember, amongst
other passages, what a worthy Christian told me,
how sometimes in hearing the word such a
power and evidence of the Lord's presence was
with it, that he hath been forced to rise and loot
through the church, and see what the people
were doing, thinking from what he felt on his
own spirit, it was a wonder how any could go
away without some change upon them. And
then it was sweet and easy for Christians to
come thirty or forty miles to the solemn com-
munions which they had, and there continue
from the time they came until they returned,
without wearying or making use of sleep ; yea,
but little either meat or drink, and, as some of
them professed, did not feel the need thereof,
but went away most fresh and vigorous, their
souls so filled with the sense of God."
Such was the revival granted to our fathers
when God brought them to this land. It was a
great work, not confined to one parish, but
bringing under its influence a goodly portion of
Ulster. It was no evanescent movement, pro-
ducing a temporary excitement, and then dying
THE WORK ITSELF. 43
away, leaving no traces behind. It extended
over a series of years, and its fruits were soon
visible.
" God, what time thou didst go forth,
Before thy people's face :
And when through the great wilderness,
Thy glorious marching was.
God, thou to thine heritage
Didst send a plenteous rain,
Whereby thou, when it weary was,
Didst it refresh again."
CHAPTER V.
THE ISSUES AND LESSONS OF THE WORK.
"And generations yet unborn,
Shall praise and magnify the Lord."
FSAT.M cii. 18.
THE Ulster Revival rooted the truth in the
northern province rooted it securely. A storm
was gathering that was to try it sorely. When
the tempest swept in fury around it, safely it
weathered the storm. Had the time of trial
come before, instead of after, the revival had
the bishops enforced conformity at first, or had
the terrible massacre happened twenty years
sooner, very different would have been the
results. It is a living, not a lifeless church that
will stand the fires of persecution. It is only
men who have felt the power of the truth who
will suffer for the truth's sake. When the
massacre was over, the condition of the church
in Ulster was gloomy enough. But, as the wide-
spread cedar, that seems almost crushed to the
earth when the snow storm has fallen, shakes off
its load, and with a bound assumes its former
THE ISSUE AND LESSONS OF THE WORK. 45
position, -when the first breath of spring has
blown upon it ; so that church stood up more
vigorous than before, when once the gloomy
night of popish fury had passed by.
The fruits of the revival are still seen in
Ulster. That province is the coldest and bleak-
est in Ireland. Yet how immeasurably superior
it is in every thing to Connaught, or Munster,
or even Leinster ! We are not insensible to the
shortcomings of the descendants of the good
men whom G-od so blessed and honoured, now
more than two centuries ago. We are not
forgetful of departure from the faith on the part
of many ; nor of the coldness and deadness of
multitudes whose creed is orthodox, and whose
forms of worship are scriptural. There is much
in the past to mourn over, much in the present
we would fain have otherwise. But, when we
look at the superior tillage of Ulster, its
thriving towns and villages, its busy seats of
manufacture ; when we think of the loyalty of
the large masses of its population, the industry
of its middle and lower classes, and the integrity
of its merchants and men of business, we cannot
help ascribing much of that which has given
46 THE ULSTER EEVIVAL.
this province such a proud pre-eminence, to
the 'labours of Blair and Livingstone, and their
brethren, and to the remarkable blessing that
attended their efforts. We are now reaping
what they sowed sowed often in tears. As yet
the results of their work have .told mainly upon
Ulster. But we are firmly persuaded they are
yet to extend a mighty influence on the whole
land, over all its length and breadth.
The record of this revival is the most instruc-
tive, chapter in the history of Presbyterianism in
Ireland. Would that we could read the lessons
it is fitted to teach ! We have a great work to
do in Ireland does it not tell us how we can
best accomplish that work how success is to be
attained ? In outward organization we were
never in so prosperous a condition as now. We
are united. No false doctrine is preached in
any of our pulpits. Everywhere, in every good
work, how much zeal is displayed ! At home
what doors of usefulness are opening up ! In
the Colonial field, and in the Foreign and
Jewish Mission fields, there are far more calls
for help than we are able to respond to. When
had we such reason to look with hopeful eye
THE ISSUES AND LESSONS OP THE WORK. 47
into the future ? Never ! And if our organiza-
tion is prosperous, the scripturality of our
system too, was at no former period more firmly
believed in by our people. Not only are we
assured of its derivation from the Word of God,
but we are experiencing more and more every
day, how admirably fitted it is to advance the
kingdom of God in any land, or among any
people. In all this we rejoice ; for have we not
reason to rejoice ?
Yet here a danger threatens. We may be
tempted to trust in the completeness of our
organization, and the scripturality of our system.
We may forget that in the building of the Lord's
spiritual house, church polity is but the scaffold-
ing, and is only useful as it enables the builders
to raise the walls of the glorious structure that
it is only the casket for preserving the priceless
jewel of divine truth in the world. And our
forms of worship are only the censer in which
the incense of the heart pure spiritual worship
is to be offered to God. We yield to none in
our attachment to Presbyterian order and wor-
ship, but, God forbid that we should give them
48 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
a place and an importance they were never
designed to hold ! Whenever we are tempted to
do this, how strong soever we may appear to
ourselves or others, God has written Ichabod
upon us, and we are truly impotent for good.
If then we would achieve great things, we
must be anointed with the oil of heavenly grace
baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
Wanting this preparation, we labour in vain,
and spend our strength for nought. Hitherto
effort has not been rewarded with proportionate
success. Why ? The presence of the life-giving
spirit has been withheld. A bright future is
before us. That we may not fail in our high
mission in this land, let us seek another revival.
If other churches labour more earnestly, mani-
fest more of the Spirit of Christ, seek with
greater purity of aim to promote, not their own
glory, but the glory of God, they will surely
outstrip us in the race ; and why should they
not ? It is true of churches as of individuals
" Them that honour God He will honour. 5 ' It
is a living, earnest, humble church God will
bless. And, O with what power we would assail
THE ISSUES AND LESSONS OF THE WORK. 49
the stronghold of antichrist in our land, if a
time of refreshing were granted us from on high !
Are we not encouraged to plead with God for
a revival of His work among us ? We can urge
His promises, but we can urge too His dealings
with our fathers. We can cry, " Wilt thou not
revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in
thee ?"
WHEN GOD WOULD PLANT OUR GOODLY
VINE.
WHEN God would plant our goodly vine within this
land, of yore,
A place where deep its roots might strike He had pre-
pared before ;
The vine degenerate and wild with fire He did con-
sume,
That, cast away, our chosen shoot might grow and fill
its room.
It was a small and tender plant, that had been trampled
sore
Beneath the feet of cruel men, when carried to our
shore ;
But, cherished by the Lord of Hosts, and tended by
His hand, >..
Its boughs were yet to spread abroad and covef'all the
land !
WHEN GOD WOULD PLANT OUK GOODLY VINE. 51
When God would plant our goodly vine within this
land, of yore,
A people suffering for the truth He guided to our
shore :
From Scotland's rugged land they came, a stern and
stalwart race ;
They came from England's clime, less used danger and
toil to face.
Where Eeagh and Strangford wide expand, by Carrick's
castled town,
Where Foyle and Lagan ebb and flow,- the pilgrims
sate them down.
And through long years of struggle sore, as erst their
fathers prayed,
They joyed that they were free to pray, with none to
make afraid !
When God would plant our goodly vine within this
land, of yore,
A band of exiled ministers, brave men, He hither
bore;
Dunbar and Stewart, Robert Blair, in sacred lore who
shone,
James Hamilton of noble blood, and honoured Living-
stone,
52 THE ULSTER REVIVAL.
And Brice, and holy Cunningham, and Welsh from
Scotland eame . .
While Henry Colvert, Hubbard, Eidge did bear an
English name.
Long ages past these valiant men have gained the
crown on high,
But though long dead, their work remains their
work will never die !
When God would plant our goodly vine within this "
land, of yore,
His Spirit in a mighty flood from Heaven He did
outpour ;
And where the Six-Mile Water flows, o'er many a
thirsty soul,
As streams in South recalled, He made the swelling
torrent roll.
And whereso'er the Word was preached in all the
country wide,
The outpoured Spirit swept along in a resistless tide.
Oh ! 't was a time when opened were windows in
highest heaven
A foretaste of the promised time to earth shall yet be
given !
WHEN GOD WOULD PLANT OUR GOODLY VINE. 53
When- God would plant our goodly vine within this
land, of yore,
While yet its years were few, he bade the tempest
round it roar.
Prelatic persecution raged its slender boughs among,
And Popish wrath in massacre swept furiously along.
But lake the stately cedar on the brow of Lebanon,
Its roots more firmly clasped the rock, when past the
storm had gone.
Since then, though ofbtimes it hath heard the tem-
pest's wild uproar,
Unscathed it stands, safe kept by Him who planted it
of yore !
M. K.
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Prepared by the Young Men's Christian Association,
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UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO